Apologies to all the Irish out there. I imagine that not drinking a stout on a day such as this leaves me subject to some ancient Irish law and now I must forfeit my first born horse and cook a stew for the entire county. If so, I can only say that I thoroughly deserve the punishment. I mean, what was I thinking?! St.Patrick’s Day and I didn’t by a single stout for #beersaturday 🤦‍♂️ May the leprechaun king have mercy on my potatoes.

So, what beers did I buy? Well, it’s definitely going to please those who like a nice, crisp, hazy IPA 🍺

As you can see, I went a little IPA crazy this weekend and in hindsight I wish I’d have thrown in a nice creamy stout. The thing is, having four different IPAs to drink isn’t normally an issue but the ones I chose turned out to be far too indistinguishable. All of them are around the 6% mark and two of them may well have been brewed in the same bathtub.

Let’s begin with Beavertown’s Heavy Gravity hazy IPA

Really not impressed with this beer. Void of any remarkable flavour. If nothing else, it’s a clean beer, and that’s as good as a compliment I can give it. To be honest, I didn’t expect much from Beavertown. They have this *imposter vibe to them. Like a 90’s boyband. Yes, it’s music, but it’s a bad version of it. That’s this beer in a nutshell.

Everyone loves a Tiny Rebel

HADOUKEN!

Let’s start with the name, “Hadouken”. If this is the first time you’ve heard this phrase, go away and find a time machine. Then, spend your whole childhood playing the game “Street fighter”, after which you can come back and join us.
Now, are we all in agreement on the amount of cool-points this beer gets for its name? “PERFECT!”

I love Tiny Rebel brewery and will not have a bad word said about any of their beers. And with that in mind, I think it best we skip over the taste review of Hadouken and swiftly move to our next beer.

Northern Monk - Outcast

Dressed in green for this weekend’s Irish celebrations, Outcast swaggers it’s way into #beersaturday like a young Conner McGregor.

Punchy grapefruit flavour makes this a very refreshing IPA. Probably the nicest beer of the bunch (but that could have more to do with the fact I’m on my 3rd beer of the night). Certainly has the most distinctive flavour and while it’s not got that pulpy thickness to it, it’s still a good experience. For that real pulpy taste you have to go stronger, and at 6% Outcast was always going to fall short here. Nonetheless, Northern Monk have produced a solid beer and with some warmer weather overhead I’d love to have more of this in the fridge.

Last but not least, another Tiny Rebel

Tiny Rebel 505 6.2% NEIPA

Unlike the Hodouken, this beer from Tiny Rebel really does deserve a sentence or two.

Now I do love NEIPA, there’s just something very distinctive in the flavour and I think it boils down to balance. Just the right amount of bitterness mixed with a sharp citrus twang.

505 presents itself very well too. Pouring into the glass with a reassuringly thick and hazy splash. Beautiful, just beautiful…

Time for some food!

So, I’m 4 beers deep and desperately in need of something to soak up all this liquid pleasure. As I’m writing this post after the event, I can say that I quite happily surprised at my drunken cooking. I mean, admittedly, I did just bung this all in the oven. But 99 out of 100 occasions like this would end with the cremated remains of my dinner being discovered in the oven some hours later. But not today! Today is a good day.

Bon appetite my #beersaturday friends!